The language facilities of aliens will vary; probably the most fluent (by
virtue of necessity) are the ambassadors, whose english is perfect or nearly
so (cyberlink to the brain dumping the English equivilants of their own
language and grammar directly into the brain, very expensive and not a little
painful). The drawback is that some cultural references or some contextual
areas may not be as clear as required. (Londo wondering about ramoras, Delenn
unsure for a moment about poetry....)

Re: language in general...I agree that all languages must be "living
languages" in that they are free to grow and expand and add new terms. There
is a difference between this and a *collapsing language* in which the
distinction between terms (the aformentioned less and fewer) becomes degraded,
and meanings blur through misuse. Ase gradually becomes less precise. A
language should be graded on how well it manages to communicate the thoughts
of one to the other. If it begins to fail in that regard, then it is not a
living but a dying language.

(Another example: the way that "anxious" and "eager" have come to mean
the same thing. "Anxious" carries with it some degree of worry or dread or
fear; "eager" is a pleasant term, connoting something wonderful and nice for
which one is longing. So when someone says, with a smiling and expectant
attitude, "Yeah, I'm really anxious to see the new Lucas movie," it's a misuse
of the term, unless there's some reason for worry.)

jms

The language facilities of aliens will vary; probably the most fluent (by
virtue of necessity) are the ambassadors, whose english is perfect or nearly
so (cyberlink to the brain dumping the English equivilants of their own
language and grammar directly into the brain, very expensive and not a little
painful). The drawback is that some cultural references or some contextual
areas may not be as clear as required. (Londo wondering about ramoras, Delenn
unsure for a moment about poetry....)

Re: language in general...I agree that all languages must be "living
languages" in that they are free to grow and expand and add new terms. There
is a difference between this and a *collapsing language* in which the
distinction between terms (the aformentioned less and fewer) becomes degraded,
and meanings blur through misuse. Ase gradually becomes less precise. A
language should be graded on how well it manages to communicate the thoughts
of one to the other. If it begins to fail in that regard, then it is not a
living but a dying language.

(Another example: the way that "anxious" and "eager" have come to mean
the same thing. "Anxious" carries with it some degree of worry or dread or
fear; "eager" is a pleasant term, connoting something wonderful and nice for
which one is longing. So when someone says, with a smiling and expectant
attitude, "Yeah, I'm really anxious to see the new Lucas movie," it's a misuse
of the term, unless there's some reason for worry.)

jms